Datuk Nik Moustpha began his career in 1979 as a Lecturer in the Faculty of Economics and Agribusiness, Agricultural University of Malaysia. In June 1983, he was seconded to the Faculty of Economics and Management of International Islamic University, Malaysia. He was the Dean of the said faculty from August 1987 to July 1989. In May 1988, he was appointed as an Associate Professor of the same faculty.

Datuk Nik Moustpha took on the position of Visiting Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, University of Oxford, United Kingdom for one academic year. He was then appointed as the Dean of the Postgraduate Faculty of International Islamic University, Malaysia in August 1992. Subsequently, he joined the Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia (“IKIM”) in 1993 and held various positions in IKIM before retiring as the Director General of IKIM in 2015.

He has authored 6 books, edited 18 books and published over 260 of his scholarly articles in various journals, books, magazines and newspapers. Amongst the books written by him include “An Islamic Paradigm in Economics: Vision and Mission”, “Islamic Management for Excellence - Revitalising People for the Future”, Value-based Total Performance Excellence Model and “Pandangan Alam Islam Dalam Peradaban Ekonomi dan Asas Memacu Ekonomi Ummah - Satu Pandangan”. The focal point of his writings has been mainly economic thoughts, economic systems and the future of economics and management.

Datuk Nik Moustpha is currently the Director of Takaful Ikhlas Berhad, Member of the Shariah Committee of MNRB Holdings Bhd, Adjunct Professor, National Defence University of Malaysia and Adviser of the Faculty of Business and Accounting, University of Malaya.